BNP Paribas Sells 537 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

BNP Paribas trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,268 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 537 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DRI. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after acquiring an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 111.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,469,083 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $241,121,000 after purchasing an additional 772,907 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 16,996.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 377,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $61,959,000 after buying an additional 375,292 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,048,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 139.9% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 352,344 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $53,317,000 after buying an additional 205,450 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DRI. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.13.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 42,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.68, for a total value of $7,279,747.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,685 shares in the company, valued at $10,075,040.80. The trade was a 41.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,005,911.65. This represents a 35.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock worth $10,116,030 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of DRI stock opened at $173.84 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.87 and a fifty-two week high of $177.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $164.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.